Too Late
by sasuke's tomatoes
Summary: She's slipping through his grasp, and there's nothing he can do to stop it. SasuSaku
1. Chapter 1

**A (late) idea I had for SasuSaku month. I don't want to say too much here, because I don't want to give ****_anything_**** away. But I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

Sakura sighed happily as she filed away the last of her medical scrolls in the enormous bookshelf she had in her bedroom. She was finally, _finally_ done with her work, which meant that she could start getting ready to go to Sasuke's. It was Saturday night, which meant that they would be having one of their Team 7 dinners. They'd made a pact, they would have dinner once a week at each other's houses every Saturday night, and they would take it in turns to play host. Last week they ate at Naruto's, which meant that this week was Sasuke's turn.

At first, the members of Team 7 had been quite surprised to learn that their stoic teammate was admittedly a pretty decent cook. Living by himself for all those years had taught him how to take care of himself properly. Still, Sakura always liked getting to Sasuke's house early, so that she could help him with dinner, set the table, choose a movie, and just talk to him (which was really just her filling up the air with mindless chatter and him occasionally saying 'hn'.)

Sakura smiled to herself. Although she loved hosting Team 7 dinners herself, she had to admit that dinners at Sasuke's house were definitely her favourite. After dinner, they'd all go and sit in Sasuke's (huge) living room, in front of his (huge) TV. They would talk, laugh, joke around, and put on a good movie. But without fail, the night would always end the same way, with Naruto sprawled out on one of the couches, snoring loudly, Sakura curled up on another couch, Sasuke slowly dozing off, Kakashi fast asleep with a copy of his _Icha Icha_ novel on his face, and Sai attentively watching the movie, sitting up straight and taking notes (depending on what kind of movie it was).

Barely able to suppress the grin on her face, Sakura locked her front door and set off for the Uchiha district.

* * *

Sasuke was rummaging around in a cupboard trying to find a pan when he heard his front door open and close, followed by a delightful "Hey, Sasuke!"

He smirked. So she was here already. If he was if he was honest with himself, he actually rather enjoyed Sakura's company, and he liked the fact that she always got here early to help him out with the food. If it were anyone else, he's be annoyed because he'd assume that they were suggesting that he couldn't do it on his own, and that he was incompetent. But with Sakura it was completely different. With Sakura... she was just being friendly.

He heard her footsteps echoing down the hall.

"You OK?" she asked as she walked into the kitchen, shrugging her coat off and trying to fix her hair. Her cheeks were flushed from the cold, and the wind had whipped her hair in all directions. "Oh, what are we having today? Smells good!"

"Hn. Spaghetti."

Sakura grinned. Always something with tomatoes in it.

"Anything you want me to do?" she asked, rolling up her sleeves.

"You can make a start on the salad."

And just like that they were off, both preparing food with Sakura talking and laughing, and Sasuke either saying 'Hn' or making a sarcastic remark.

It wasn't long before Naruto walked in, grinning like an idiot and slamming the door shut before any more cold air could get in.

"Hey, guys!" he said, walking into the kitchen. He gave Sakura a peck on the cheek, and thumped Sasuke on the back playfully. "What's cooking?"

"Spaghetti," said Sakura. "Naruto, could you set the table, please?" she asked, handing him plates. "Sai and Kakashi will be here any minute."

"Sai and – wait, Kakashi? Now? Bit early for him, isn't it?" Naruto asked, taking the plates from Sakura.

"We told him to be here for 6 o' clock, and it's almost 8, so he should be here soon."

Naruto chuckled, and Sasuke smirked.

"Well, that was smart."

"You're welcome." was Sakura's response as she handed him cutlery.

Sai and Kakashi arrived together, just as the steaming hot spaghetti was brought from the kitchen into the dining room. Kakashi didn't even have to apologise for being late, seeing as dinner hadn't even started yet, and Sai greeted everyone formally with a small but genuine smile on his face.

Although dinners at Sasuke's house always went the same way, they were never boring. They would all chat about what they'd been up to, their missions, and anything else they could think of. Thought he never really said much, Sasuke was secretly grateful for this time they all spent together. He was no longer bitter, lonely or isolated. In fact, he was the complete opposite. No one had accepted him more than the people sat around his dining table right now. In all honesty, he cherished these moments, and he'd never admit it out loud, but he wouldn't change it for the world.

Sasuke glanced at Naruto, who was finishing saying something about Hinata, at which Sai smiled, Kakashi chuckled and patted him on the back, and Sakura laughed and said "Well it's about time!"

He looked at Kakashi, who was smiling and patting his former student on the back proudly. He looked at Sai, whom he had originally loathed almost as much as he had loathed Naruto, calling him his gay replacement, but who he now considered a comrade, a teammate.

And then he looked at Sakura, who was laughing and playfully patting Naruto on the back and pinching his whiskered cheeks. The sound of her laughter reached his ears, a sound that he wanted to hear time and time again. Her pink hair tumbled around her shoulders, her green eyes lit up with laughter, her pink lips spread into a bright smile, and for a moment he couldn't look away from her, until he regained his senses and looked down into his empty plate, with the hint of a smile on his face. These people, his teammates, his comrades, were his new _family_.

* * *

"So," Naruto said loudly, practically jumping onto the couch and earning himself a glare from Sasuke, "what movie are we watching tonight?"

"Sakura already chose one, now shut up and watch."

"Wait! What about snacks?!"

"You just had dinner, you still want snacks?"

"Come on, Sasuke," Sakura cut in, "you have to have snacks with a movie."

"Yeah!" said Naruto. "It's like, a _law_."

Sasuke sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fine."

Naruto leapt up from his spot on the couch, grabbed Sakura and Sai's arms, and ran into the kitchen, shouting "I bet the bastard's got some ice-cream!"

Two hours and two tubs of ice-cream later, the members of Team 7 were draped across Sasuke's couches, too full to move. Just as the movie was about to end, Sakura stood up.

"Just going to the bathroom quickly," she said, "I'll be back soon." And she left.

Naruto grinned, and slid into Sakura's spot, which was right next to Sasuke's, and put an arm around his shoulders. Sasuke glared at him.

"Get off me, you parasite."

Naruto ignored him, and instead nudged him in the ribs with his elbows.

"So..." he drawled, raising his eyebrows suggestively "saw you staring at Sakura during dinner... anything you wanna tell us?"

Sasuke removed Naruto's arms from around his shoulders.

"Oh, don't you dare try and deny it!" Naruto said accusingly. "Even Kakashi saw. Right, Kakashi?"

A snore was his only response.

"Whatever. Sai saw, didn't you, Sai?"

"Saw what?"

"You _missed_ it? Aw, c'mon, the bastard was totally checking her out!"

"Shut up, you idiot."

"See? He's smitten!"

"Naruto, I'm warning you-"

His sentence was cut short. Because at that moment, they heard a thud coming from the first floor of Sasuke's mansion. A sound that couldn't be detected by a normal person, but was easily picked up by their trained ears.

The sound of a body hitting the floor.

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Short first chapter, I know, but I just had to leave it here! Next chapter should be up in a few days. Is it worth continuing?

**I don't mean to make Sasuke OOC in this fic, but he will be a ****_tiny_**** bit... well... nicer, I guess? This story is quite a while after he comes back, so they're about 19. **

**But tell me what you thought! R&amp;R!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! This is a super-quick, super-short update, seeing as I'll probably be very busy the next few days. **

**Before I proceed with this chapter though, I just want to clear something up. Someone left a comment saying that this story is copyrighted because 'they believe it's been done before.' But I assure you guys, this story is ****_not_**** copyrighted. I wrote this story myself, I haven't copied anyone. I would never do something like that. I understand that there may be a story ****_similar_**** to this one, but I have never seen or read it. If anyone has seen a similar story, could they please let me know so that I know what this person's referring to? I would really appreciate it. **

**And to the rest of you who reviewed, thank you! It was so nice to get such positive feedback after only one chapter. So, I hope you enjoy this one!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. **

* * *

Their shinobi instincts kicked in immediately, and they ran. They didn't even bother to wonder what could have happened to her. She couldn't have possibly been attacked; they would've sensed the enemies' chakra. And even if she had been attacked, she was more than capable of handling it on her own. Could she have passed out? But why? As far as they knew, she was in perfect health.

Sasuke was the first to reach the top of the stairs, his Sharingan almost glowing in the darkness of the hallway. What he saw almost made his blood run cold.

Sakura had indeed collapsed outside the bathroom. But that wasn't what disturbed him. She was pale as a sheet, a stark contrast from how she'd looked earlier on this evening. But that wasn't what disturbed him. It was the fact that she hardly seemed to be breathing at all.

They ran to her side. Naruto picked up her arm and desperately tried to find a pulse, while Sasuke placed his ear against her chest, trying to pick up the sound of her heartbeat.

"There's a pulse," Naruto said eventually, "but it's faint... very faint..."

Sasuke nodded. Her breathing was shallow and raspy, and came at irregular intervals.

"We need to get her to Tsunade," he said, scooping her body into his arms, "now."

* * *

Tsunade leaned back in her chair, taking a swig from her bottle of sake. Today had been surprisingly peaceful, with everything going according to schedule. Nothing out of the ordinary. Even Shizune was looking relaxed, with Tonton fast asleep in her arms.

So when _Sasuke Uchiha_ of all people stormed into her office unannounced, carrying an unconscious Sakura in his arms, followed by Naruto, Kakashi and Sai, she almost fell back in her chair.

Tsunade groaned inwardly. She should've known the peace wouldn't last very long.

Sasuke walked forward and showed Tsunade Sakura's limp body.

"What happened." It wasn't a question. It was more like a demand for an answer.

"I could ask you the same thing," Tsunade replied in a huff, taking Sakura's body into her arms and beginning to examine her.

"She just collapsed," said Naruto, with a worried crease between his brows. "None of us were actually there to see, but..." he trailed off as he noticed the grave look that settled on Tsunade's face. "... Granny?"

Tsunade stood up with Sakura's body in her arms, facing away from them. "I'm taking her to the hospital," she said quietly. And without another word, she and Shizune teleported out of the room.

It took a moment for the boys to comprehend what had just happened. "She left us!" Naruto shouted. For a moment, the four shinobi stood around, unsure of what to do.

"Kakashi," Naruto said, turning to him, "should we go after them?"

"Probably not," said Kakashi. "Lady Tsunade will want to give Sakura a thorough examination. This could possibly be quite serious, since Sakura seems to be in perfect health, so maybe we should wait a while. Plus, look at the time. It's 11:45. There's no way they'll let us in at this time of night."

"But she's our teammate!"

"That may be true, but we aren't the only ones who've had a teammate hospitalized so suddenly and so late at night," Sai reasoned. "Perhaps we should wait until morning. Ugl- I mean, Sakura should be better by then."

Naruto crossed his arms and started to sulk – a sign that he wasn't happy with waiting at all.

And neither was Sasuke. He'd remained completely silent throughout their talk, but his jaw had tightened and he'd glared at one spot in the corner of the room the entire time. Without warning, he turned around and walked out of the office. Silently, the other three followed him.

* * *

"Shizune!" Tsunade shouted once they were in the hospital. "I'm taking Sakura into my examination room. Get me her medical record, and alert some of the medics just in case. Now!" she added sharply, leaving Shizune to complete her orders. Sighing, Tsunade laid Sakura down onto her examination table. She hadn't meant to be so strict and demanding with Shizune, but this was _Sakura's limp body_ she was holding in her arms. She couldn't help but panic a little, especially since Sakura was...

"Lady Tsunade!" Shizune suddenly burst into the room. "I have Sakura's medical report," she said, handing it to her. Tsunade flicked through it quickly, and proceeded with Sakura's examination. She placed two glowing green hands over Sakura's left breast, directly over her heart. Inserting her chakra, Tsunade felt for anything dangerous or life-threatening. After a few seconds, she let out a sudden gasp and withdrew her hands immediately.

"What's wrong?" Shizune asked, noticing the shock on Tsunade's face

Tsunade looked up at her, trying to hide the expression of dread on her face. "It's gotten worse."

* * *

**I should probably stop apologizing for such short chapters, since I don't seem to be capable of writing anything longer lol. But I really am sorry it's so short! I wanted to make it longer, but then it would've gone too far into the next chapter, and I haven't finished that yet. But I'm working on it now, I promise!**

**Reviewww! :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey Hey! Chapter 3 is here! You guys are finally gonna find out what happened to Sakura!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

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Sasuke woke to the sound of rapid knocking and a lot of shouting and swearing, all coming from Naruto. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and dragged himself out of bed to pull a shirt on, trying hard to drown out the sounds of "OI! Wake up you bastard!"

He opened his front door and Naruto practically fell inside, running straight to the kitchen to raid the cupboards for some breakfast. Sasuke followed him, still not completely awake, and wondered why he'd even opened the door in the first place.

Walking into the kitchen, he was presented with the sight of Naruto digging into some instant ramen (which, strangely enough, Sasuke didn't remember buying). He leaned on the kitchen counter, pinching the bridge of his nose, and eventually began to prepare breakfast for himself.

Once he was done, he set it down on the table opposite Naruto, and gave him a look which clearly said 'explain yourself'.

Naruto finished off the last of his ramen. "What, did you forget? We're going to see Sakura today!"

And then Sasuke remembered. The dinner. The passing out. The faint heartbeat. Tsunade, taking her to hospital and leaving them behind...

"What's happened?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't know, man, that's why we gotta go!"

"Haven't you heard anything since then?"

"Nope."

Sasuke sighed. "Fine." He walked towards the stairs. "Just let me get ready." And he left, leaving Naruto to empty the cupboards of any remaining food.

* * *

Arriving at the hospital, they sought out Shizune, who led the two boys down one of the hospital corridors. They stopped at the very end, and both shinobi instantly recognised where they were. Tsunade's private examination room.

That can't have been good.

Shizune paused as she went to open the door. "This may come as a bit of a shock," she said quietly.

She opened the door and led the two boys inside. What they saw only increased the feeling of dread in the pit of their stomachs.

Sakura was lying in the hospital bed, still unconscious, and had been attached to an IV, along with an oxygen mask to help her breathing. Something that looked a lot like a heart rate monitor was beside her, which showed that her heartbeat was more or less back to normal, thankfully.

"What _happened_?" Naruto whispered.

Shizune had reached to pick up Sakura's medical record, but paused.

"Sakura... hasn't told you yet, has she?"

She turned and looked them both in the eyes.

"Before I tell you, just remember that Sakura had her own reasons for not telling you this. Don't think that she –"

"Get on with it," Sasuke said, not rudely, but more like he was in a hurry for her to get to the point as quick as possible.

Shizune took a deep breath. "Sakura was born with a hole in her heart," she said in a hollow voice.

Naruto's mouth fell open in shock, with a look of utter disbelief and hurt on his face. Sasuke had turned his head around to look at Sakura's unconscious form once more, hiding his face from the other two, and also staring at the girl whom he had assumed was perfectly healthy before they'd had this bomb dropped on them.

"She was put on medication when she was born, and was in and out of the hospital for at least a year after that. Once she turned three, the hole started to close up, and by the time she had started at the Academy she didn't even have to go to the hospital anymore. The hospital staff had approved of her being a kunoichi, assuring her that the shinobi lifestyle wouldn't affect her health at all. By the time she was put on a genin team with you two and Kakashi, the hole had almost completely closed up. That's probably why she didn't tell you. If it was nothing to worry about, why would she?"

Sasuke turned back to Shizune. "So what's happened now, then?" he demanded.

"During the war..." Shizune began turning to look at Sakura "... during the war, well, you know what she went through. Everything that happened, all the shinobi she had to heal, all the chakra depletion, it put a massive strain on her chakra network. But the chakra network is intricately woven into the body's organs, which means that the strain put on her heart was far greater than what happened to her chakra network. It was too much. There was so much strain on her cardiovascular system that it... it was just too much."

"What are you saying?" Naruto asked, his voice laced with worry.

"The hole tore itself open again at some point while she was out there. The tissue where the hole had closed would always be tender, but the situation she was in was too extreme. She was forced to use almost all her chakra, and on top of that the increased heart rate, the constant fighting; it put enormous pressure on her heart. No one could've predicted what it would do to her. But because of it, the hole is now bigger than it was before."

Naruto and Sasuke stared at Sakura's unconscious form, both too shocked to speak.

"So what happens now?" Sasuke asked, picking up her medical record and flicking through it.

"At this point, only time will tell," Shizune answered, and upon hearing that, Sasuke whipped his head round to look at her.

"What?"

"Once she regains consciousness, Lady Tsunade is going to take another look at her. But I should tell you boys... there are some things, very few things, that chakra cannot heal," she said in a low voice. "Take the heart, for example. When there's a hole in the heart, it means that oxygenated blood, blood rich in oxygen, is able to mix with deoxygenated blood, blood which has a very small amount of oxygen in it. Because of this, it lowers the overall amount of oxygen in the blood, which is why Sakura passed out."

"Hold on," Naruto said suddenly, "you said the hole opened again during the war, but it's been ages since then. Why's this only happened now?"

"Honestly, I don't know," Shizune answered. "That's something that only Lady Tsunade can tell us. As soon as she's done with her paperwork, she's coming here to take another look at her."

Sasuke looked in Sakura's direction again, and felt a wave of fury come over him. _Why hadn't he known?_ Sure, it had been nothing to worry about, but would it have killed her to at least let them know? At least let _him_ know? If she'd only done that in the first place, then she wouldn't be here in the first place!

He slammed her medical file back onto the table and stormed out of the room, needing to get out of there and find something to take his anger out on.

_Sakura_, he thought angrily, _we're going to have a serious talk when you get out of this place._

* * *

**So, how was that? Please review! I love reading your comments!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Finally, a new chapter. I'm so sorry for the long wait! I'm trying to take my time with this story :)**

**Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

Sasuke attacked the wooden dummy in front of him viciously, each hit harder than the last. His Sharingan was blazing wildly as he hit the dummy with a barrage of punches and kicks, dismantling it completely. He paused for about a second, before he hit the pieces with a fireball jutsu so strong the heat felt almost painful from how close he was. He watched in a sick sort of satisfaction as the flames licked the wooden pieces and curled around them, seemingly igniting the entire training ground.

He turned around and began to walk back to the Uchiha compound, not bothering to retrieve the numerous shuriken and kunai he had thrown. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he scowled as he thought of what had happened so far. The incident at the hospital had angered him and he wasn't sure why, which had made him even angrier. So, instead of sitting down and thinking about it, he'd acted on impulse and let his anger out through an intense training session. He refused to admit the real reason behind his impulsive, reckless actions.

The truth? He was scared, and he didn't know why.

* * *

Sakura's eyes fluttered open, and she was hit with a blinding light. One of the first things she noticed was the oxygen mask on her face, which she removed as it was a bit uncomfortable. She recognised the feeling in her hand that told her she had been attached to an IV, and looking around, she instantly knew she was in Tsunade's private examination room. Sighing, she sat up in bed and adjusted the pillows, trying to make herself comfortable. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was now 2:00pm. She knew she would have to be seen by Tsunade as soon as possible, but even so, Sakura knew she was in for a long, long wait.

Just as she was about to grab her medical file for something to read (even though she'd flicked through it countless times before), the door suddenly burst open and a distraught Ino walked through the door, closely followed by Hinata and a very dishevelled looking Shizune.

"_Sakura_!" Ino cried, practically running to her side and taking her hand. "Oh Forehead, what _happened_?"

"I-Ino, I think you should-"

"Sakura," said Hinata, sitting down on the other side of her bed and placing a hand on her shoulder, "are you OK?"

"Girls, please, not so-"

"It's alright, Shizune," Sakura said, "I'm feeling a lot better, now."

"Still, I think you should rest as much as possible until you're seen by Lady Tsunade."

Ino noticed Sakura's medical files on the counter, and snatched them up to read them. Hinata joined her, reading over her shoulder.

A couple of minutes passed, in which Ino and Hinata's eyes widened in shock and hurt quite a few times, and they continued reading until-

"You have a _hole in your heart_?"

Sakura couldn't seem to find her voice, so she nodded.

"And you never told us?" Ino asked. The hurt in her voice made a lump form in Sakura's throat along with tears in her eyes.

"Why, Sakura?" she asked, tears already streaming down her face. "Why didn't you tell us? I can barely understand why you didn't tell your own team, but us? Your best friends?"

Sakura couldn't help it. The tears she'd been trying to hold back overflowed, and she looked down into her lap, causing her bangs to frame and hide her face.

"Sakura," Hinata said, rubbing her back soothingly, "it's alright. Don't cry." She put an arm around her and continued to whisper words of comfort in her ear, while Ino held her hand and did her best to try and stop crying in front of them.

"Sakura, honey," Shizune said, bringing her some pills and a glass of water, "take these. Lady Tsunade should be here in the evening. And also... Naruto and Sasuke were here this morning."

"Oh no," Sakura whispered. Finally finding her voice again, she cleared her throat and asked in a raspy voice, "What did you tell them?"

"Everything," Shizune said. Sakura groaned. "Look, honey, I understand why you didn't want to tell them, believe me. But they seem to think that this could've been avoided if they'd known."

"Why would I tell them about it if it was completely harmless?" Sakura asked, feeling anger start to creep up inside her.

"I know why you didn't tell them, Sakura, but-"

"No, you don't know!" Sakura said loudly. "You think I didn't tell them because I wouldn't want them to worry about me, but it's more than that!" she said in a huff, brushing her hair away from her face. "If I'd told them, do you honestly think I'd be where I am now? If they had known, they would've tried to keep me away from anything and everything dangerous. I'd never reach my full potential as a kunoichi. Heck, I don't even think they'd let me do the _chūnin exams_!"

"Sakura," Shizune said softly, handing her the medicine, "try to calm down, sweetheart. Getting angry will do you no good. Just take these, talk with your friends for a while, and then try and get a bit more rest, OK? I'll be back with Lady Tsunade in the evening."

Sakura exhaled deeply and nodded, and Shizune walked out quietly, leaving Ino and Hinata to try and say something comforting, though finding no appropriate words.

"I'm sorry," Sakura eventually said, looking up at the two of them. "If it had been really serious then I would've told you, I swear but I just – why is this happening to me? She asked helplessly.

"Sakura," Ino said firmly, wiping her own tears away, "you're gonna be just fine, you hear me? You'll be good as new again. Lady Tsunade will fix you."

"Yeah," Hinata agreed. "You're strong. You'll be just fine."

Ino stood up straight and gave her a devastated look.

"Babe, we've got to go on a mission now. I'm so sorry. But it's only B-Rank! We should be back by tomorrow morning, and we'll check up on you then, alright?"

Sakura nodded, feeling somewhat cheered up, and sank back into her pillows again. The two kunoichi kissed her on the cheek before exiting the room for their mission, leaving Sakura to take her pills and fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

Sasuke arrived at the Uchiha compound and was walking up the pathway to his mansion of a house when he heard Naruto's voice.

"What's up with you?" he asked, walking behind him. He went ignored.

"Oi. Answer me, would you?"

Sasuke turned around, and Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Well you look like shit." He stated matter-of-factly.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, but decided that he was probably right. His face was still covered in a light sheen of sweat from his gruelling training session, and he probably had scorch marks on his face from the strength of his fireball jutsu. He turned around and continued walking toward his house, followed by Naruto.

"Heard anything about Sakura?"

Sasuke visibly tensed at the mention of her name.

"No."

There was a short pause.

"You think she's doing any better?"

Sasuke kicked open his front door and sighed exasperatedly. "I don't know," he said flatly.

He sat down at the table and laced his fingers together, with his usual brooding expression on his face. A couple of minutes later, he spoke up.

"Why didn't she tell us?"

Naruto looked down into his lap. "Honestly, I don't know. Do you think... maybe she didn't want to tell us because... she was afraid that we'd like, mollycoddle her or something?"

Sasuke just looked at him.

"That's ridiculous."

"Not really," Naruto reasoned. "I mean think about it. She's our teammate. It's natural that we'd want to protect her, wouldn't we? Maybe she just didn't want us to be too overprotective-"

"But we're _not_!"

"You are."

Sasuke's fists clenched so tightly he felt his nails dig in to his palms almost painfully.

"You're worried about her," Naruto observed, studying his face closely. "I can tell."

At this, Sasuke felt anger flare up inside him once more. Not only because his complete moron of a best friend was able to read him so clearly, but because he was absolutely right.

* * *

Tsunade didn't come to Sakura's hospital room until about 8:45pm that night, just when Sakura had woken up. She walked over to the hospital bed and placed a hand on her forehead.

"Hey, sweetie," she whispered gently, removing her hand and moving to pick up Sakura's medical file. "How are you feeling now?"

"Much better," Sakura whispered back.

"I assume you know what's happened?"

"Kind of."

"Well," Tsunade sat down in the chair next to Sakura's bed, "I need to tell you exactly what's happened, because you need to know. This isn't like it was before, where you would just come in whenever you were feeling a bit ill. I'm going to make regular appointments for you to come and see me from now on. I'll be seeing you every day at work anyway, so I don't want you to worry too much about that just yet. However, I'm giving you break from missions for the time being."

"What?!" Sakura suddenly sat up straight in bed, with a look of complete disbelief on her face. "Why?"

"Sakura," Tsunade said calmly, placing a hand on her shoulder, "just hear me out. I promise, you'll understand in a minute."

She proceeded to tell Sakura exactly what had happened, and how her condition was now suddenly a whole lot worse. Somewhere in her explanation Sakura ended up staring into space, not realising that tears were spilling down her cheeks. She felt so restricted, and it frustrated her to no end. Knowing that _missions_, of all things, were nearly out of the question as well was too much. She only realised that she'd stopped paying attention when Tsunade put down her medical file and pulled her into a hug.

"Listen," she said softly, tilting Sakura's head up to look at her, "this is not permanent, I promise you. It's only until I'm confident that you're well enough to go back to your usual crazy lifestyle. Stick to working in the hospital for now. Once you're recovered, everything will be back to normal." She wiped Sakura's tears away with her thumbs. "You'll get through this, Sakura. Don't cry."

Sakura took a deep breath in and attempted a smile. Tsunade always knew what to say.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed! Remember to review! :D**

_**Also, to anyone waiting for the next chapter of 'Happy Birthday Naruto', I'm working on it. I promise!**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters.**

* * *

Sakura was discharged from the hospital the next morning. Ino and Hinata had arrived back from their mission early, and had quickly come in to check on her a few hours before Shizune had come in to remind her of her weekly check-ups with Tsunade until she was confident that her health had improved. She was still incredibly frustrated that she'd have no missions to go on, but eventually agreed to it. Once she arrived home, she would shower, sort out her medical files, and then…

…and then she'd find her teammates.

They were undoubtedly less than happy with her, and now that there was no way she could avoid them any longer, she'd have to face the music.

Naruto would understand, maybe after a bit of explaining… Kakashi… did Kakashi even know yet? Naruto had probably told him. Sai wouldn't mind too much, as long as she was alive and well… but Sasuke…

Sasuke was the one she was most concerned about. She could already predict how the conversation would go. She'd get nervous, he'd get annoyed, she'd get feisty, he'd get angry, they'd both say things they didn't mean, and then they'd give each other the cold shoulder for goodness knows how long.

Sakura shook her head. Whatever happens, happens. If he was going to throw a tantrum, then let him. There was nothing she could do to prevent that. Although… she'd never liked it when Sasuke was mad at her. They'd been getting along so well, their team was almost exactly the way it used to be, and their friendship had completely recovered… was it really worth throwing all that away?

* * *

Naruto. She'd talk to Naruto first.

_This shouldn't be too difficult_, she thought as she waited for him to answer the door.

As soon as he opened it, Sakura could tell that he'd just woken up. His hair was tousled, and he'd evidently chucked on a shirt just before answering. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and blinked a few times.

"…Sakura?"

"Hi," she said quietly, "… can we talk?"

"Um, yeah," he said, stepping aside to let her in. "Everything OK?"

She sat down on his couch. "Yeah, yeah, just… I-I wanted to talk to you about this whole…"

"Yeah, I know," he said, sitting down next to her. "It's alright, I don't - I don't blame you or anything."

She looked up at him, and breathed an inner sigh of relief. This was going to be easier than she thought.

"But, y'know, if we'd known, then maybe we could've… I dunno, helped you or something?

She sighed. "Trust me, Naruto. There's nothing you guys could have done to make things easy for me. I didn't need help, I was doing fine. You guys knowing would've made no difference."

He stayed quiet for a while.

"…Naruto?"

He looked up at her. "You are gonna be alright though, aren't you?"

She paused for a little while too long. "Y-yeah, of course I will." And they went back to sitting in silence.

"So," she said suddenly, sitting up straight and putting a smile on her face in a desperate attempt to change the subject, "how's things with Hinata?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, the way he always did when he was nervous. A blush crept up his face. "Err… well I, um-"

She laughed. "You two are adorable," she said, standing up and heading for the front door.

"You're leaving already?" he asked.

"Yeah," she sighed, "gotta talk to Kakashi, Sai… and then Sasuke." She turned back to Naruto. "Thank you," she said quietly, "for being so understanding."

"No problem," he replied, pulling her into a hug. "Just… take care of yourself, yeah?"

"Yeah," she whispered, pulling away. Before she could walk away, Naruto stopped her.

"Don't… don't be worried about telling Sasuke. He'll understand, I promise, he just…"

"I know," Sakura said. "I'm sure it'll be fine. Thanks again," she said, before disappearing, leaving Naruto to contemplate the situation his two best friends were in.

Sakura had her reasons for not telling them, he knew that. By doing so she'd obviously done what she'd thought would be best for the team. Less worrying about her, more concentration on their missions. That was what she'd wanted. No one could've predicted that years down the line there'd be a shinobi war so huge it'd force one of Konoha's best medics to push herself to the point where she unknowingly put her own life in danger. When he looked at it that way, what she'd done was completely reasonable. She was one of his best friends, he knew her very well by now.

But Sasuke was also his best friend, and he knew him very well too. There was no way Sasuke would take this well. And honestly, as understandable as Sakura's actions were, so were Sasuke's.

Naruto was one of the few people who knew that Sakura was no ordinary person to Sasuke. Whether or not Sasuke saw Sakura in a romantic way was still a mystery to him, even after the sleepover they'd had at Sasuke's, but it was obvious that she'd affected him like no one else had, which was why finding out something as serious as this about her had undoubtedly shaken him. He'd already lost so much, and he definitely wasn't prepared to lose any more.

* * *

Working up her courage, Sakura knocked on the front door of the Uchiha mansion.

When he opened it, his face almost slipped from its usual calm, stoic demeanour into one of surprise. Evidently he hadn't been expecting her to visit.

"Hi," she said, sounding more confident than she felt. "… Can we talk?"

He nodded once, and opened the door wider to let her in. She made her way into the living room and turned around to face him, her expression visibly softening.

"Listen, Sasuke. I want you to know why I didn't tell you about this. I know that you guys were probably thinking that it was stupid and irresponsible of me not to tell you, but… you need to know why."

Sasuke stayed silent, but kept his eyes fixed on her, a sign that he was listening.

"It was supposed to be nothing to worry about… I was OK, I was healthy, and you know I was. It made hardly any difference to my life as a kunoichi. Even my doctors said it was OK. There was no reason for me to tell you. How was I supposed to know that this would happen?"

When she spoke again, it was in a much quieter voice. "I guess… I guess I didn't want you guys to worry too much about me either."

There was a long pause.

_She didn't want them to worry about her?_ He thought. Well that turned out great, didn't it? Almost nineteen years of not worrying, and then all those years' worth of worry dumped on them all at once.

"Well say something," Sakura said quietly.

Sasuke looked up at her. She was looking at him with an uneasy expression on her face. "You haven't said anything since I got h-"

"How long?" he asked, interrupting her sentence.

"H-huh?"

"How long? He repeated. "How long were you planning to wait before telling us?"

She stayed silent.

"…You weren't going to tell us, were you?"

Sakura didn't say anything.

"You seem to think that by keeping something like this from us it would be better for the team?"

"Well it was better-"

"No it wasn't!" he said, raising his voice. "Look where keeping secrets got you!"

Sakura felt herself growing angrier. "Keeping secrets?" she asked incredulously. "What, you think I've kept all this from you for the sake of keeping a damn secret?"

"Do you have any idea how much of this could have been avoided if we'd just known?"

"Yeah? What would you have done? Told me to stay at home and 'rest' instead of going on missions? Try to keep me from doing anything 'dangerous'?"

"Dammit, Sakura, we could've helped!"

"No, you couldn't!"

"Why do you feel the need to push yourself even if you know it's dangerous?"

"In case you hadn't noticed, Sasuke, we were in the middle of a fucking _war_."

"That's not the point!" he yelled.

"Yes, it is!" she yelled back. "We were in the middle of a war, did you expect me to abandon my position as a medic because of my _heart_? They come first, Sasuke!"

He paused for a while. Just as he opened his mouth to speak again, she spoke.

_No_, she thought. _You're going to listen to me this time._

"And anyway," she began, tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes, "why should I have told you? You never tell me anything!"

"Don't turn this around onto me, Sakura."

"Why not?" she shouted. "It's just-"

"It's different!" he yelled.

"No, it isn't," she said, turning around to leave. "You can't expect me to tell you every damn thing about my life and then not tell me anything about yours like I'm not worth your time."

And with that, she walked out of the Uchiha mansion, leaving Sasuke staring at the space where she'd been standing.

* * *

Sakura slammed her front door shut, hastily kicked off her shoes and stormed straight up to her bedroom. All she could think was, _how dare he_? How dare he accuse her of hiding her condition for the sake of keeping secrets when he'd never opened up to her or Naruto about his clan, his mission for vengeance, his _brother_-

Her thoughts were interrupted when she suddenly remembered something he'd said.

_You seem to think that by keeping something like this from us it would be better for the team?_

_He was wrong_, she thought. There was no way he could try and tell her what was best for the team, not when he was the one who'd left it so many years ago.

She was distracted from her thoughts yet again when she heard a knock on the door. She ran downstairs to open it, and found Naruto standing there with both hands in his pockets.

"Hey," he said in an uneasy voice, stepping in as Sakura stood to the side to let him through.

"Hey," she replied, closing the door and turning to him. "Everything OK?"

"I take it you've already spoken to him then," he said quietly.

She stared at him. "What, did he tell you?"

"No, but he's sitting in his house sulking. I thought I'd head over there to see how you guys were doing but you'd already left by the time I got there. So what happened?"

"Well I told him. And he asked how long I was planning to wait before I told you guys, and when he found out that I wouldn't have, he kinda got mad, saying how it could've been avoided if you guys had known, and that keeping secrets got me nowhere. And then I got mad, and said that he couldn't expect me to tell him stuff when he never told us anything. And then I left."

Naruto sighed, collapsing onto her couch and throwing an arm over his eyes. "What am I gonna do with you guys.

* * *

**A/N: Um. Hi.**

**I haven't updated in forever, I know, and I'm sorry D: however, I have more time to spend on writing now, so hopefully the updates will be more frequent!**


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